Entries 1 – 5

5.Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
I’m not sure if this is the “original” poster that accompanied The Final Chapter. (There’s one out there that has no images on it, only text). But this version is one of my favorites. A long knife through the eye of Jason’s hockey mask, in a pool of blood. Brilliant.

4.The Evil Dead (1981)
I saw this on a VHS box in the video store and it really got to me. I was simultaneously disturbed and intrigued. Of course, my mom took one look at the back of the box, read the description that included words like “dismemberment” and wouldn’t let me watch it. In hindsight, perhaps she made the right choice. Great movie, though. (Reviewed here)

3.A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)
Of Matt Peak’s awesome legacy Elm Street posters, the first one is the best. A disembodied ghoul holds his razor claws over poor, vulnerable Nancy, with the tagline “If Nancy doesn’t wake up screaming, she won’t wake up at all.” The flowing, disheveled hair and her wide-awake eyes suggest a surreal, nightmarish experience, which, fortunately, Craven delivers.

2.Zombie (1979)
Very disturbing poster for Fulci’s version of Dawn of the Dead (aka Zombi 2). A very simple, to-the-point poster with a big font, a close-up of a very nasty zombie, and the tagline “We are going to eat you!” Yikes!

1.Maniac (1980)
A very nasty, matter-of-fact poster to go with a particularly nasty flick. This is the perfect match of poster-art and movie – pure exploitation all the way and one hell of an effective way to run an ad campaign! A stocky man holds a bloody blade in one hand and a woman’s scalp in the other, with pools of blood underneath him. Yeah, sounds like William Lustig’s infamous shocker to me! I don’t think I’ll be going out tonight… unless it’s to see Maniac!